


Like The Cool Kids

by Platypodes



Category: Homestuck
Genre: (depending on how you view strifing), Bro is kind of a bad guardian, Dave and Terezi are unbelievably pale, Everything is unrequited, F/M, First attempt at fanfiction, Fosterhomestuck?, Friendship, Karkat swears a lot, Like.. Painfully Slow, M/M, Mentions of child neglect, Other, Slow Build, The relationship tags are a lie/The author is a colossal tease, and abuse, sorry :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 19:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3499475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Platypodes/pseuds/Platypodes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I wish that I could be like the cool kids,</i><br/>'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in..</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Lots of swearing

From the moment you see them, it pisses you off. 

It’s a Thursday after school and Terezi is lounging near the big moldy couch in the rec room. You say 'near' because instead of sitting on it like a normal fucking human being, she has instead chosen to use it as her own personal backrest, arms draped over the cushions to remind you that yes this is her spot, and no, you can't sit down. Even if she isn't going to. One of her legs is folded in to form a lap, while the other sticks out straight in front of her, like she’s trying to take up as much room as possible. Which, now that you think about it.. she probably is. 

Perpendicular to her, with his head in Terezi's lap and his legs all but blocking the doorway, is the second most annoying person in your life. Sprawled across the floor, he rests his head on Terezi's thigh, tapping idly on his phone while his right knee sways lazily to the beat of the ear-bustingly shitty music he insists on playing whenever he’s in your home. 

“Sup Karkles.” he says without looking at you. 

Make that the most annoying person. 

“What are you doing here?” you ask, standing frozen in the doorway like a dumbass.  
“Hiding from my social worker.” he replies with a snort. “What else?”  
“Okay, better question: why the fuck are you doing that?!”  
In answer, Dave lifts his left arm (which is bandaged) then lets it drop to the floor lazily, still without looking up from his stupid iphone. 

Terezi grins playfully, showing teeth. Her clawed fingers comb idly through Dave’s blonde hair.  
“What's got you in a tizzy, Karkles?” she asks.  
“Nothing.” you snap. 

You enter the room and settle down on the arm rest of the couch, since glaring at Terezi until she moves isn't really an option. She just shrugs and goes back to playing with Dave’s hair. Without meaning to, your eyes slide down to his arm. Not that you care, but hasn’t he shown up with injuries like that before? 

“So is your brother abusing you or what?” you ask.  
“What?” Dave laughs and shakes his head.  
“Well, is he?!” you say, getting more pissed off by the minute.  
“He's not. We just spar sometimes.”  
“How is that better?” you mutter, but Dave isn't listening. He’s either too absorbed in whatever he's doing on his phone, or pretending to be. “Won't they get suspicious if you're not there?” you ask instead. He shrugs. By which you mean, his shoulder moves a millimeter.  
“Probably. But Bro'll come up with something. It’s better than showing up like this.“ he says, and he has a point. Besides the bandage on his wrist, you can see the beginnings of a black eye showing from behind his shades and a yellowing bruise poking out of the collar of his shirt. You’re sure if he were to roll up his sleeves, there’d be more.  
“Hmmm..” You continue to frown in disapproval, and Dave continues to ignore you, until finally Terezi sighs and breaks the silence,  
“What do you want, Karkat? Your mega grumpy vibe is messing with our chill party.”  
“I want to watch a movie.” you say, snapping out of your momentary lapse of sympathy. “Can't you two go somewhere else?”  
“No.” Terezi states flatly at the same time as Dave says, “Sure. We can move.”

Frowning, Terezi opens her mouth to protest, but before she’s able to speak, Dave manages to get to his feet, grab his iPod speakers, and start moving in the direction of her bedroom. Because holy fuck, that kid is fast.  
“Blarr.. fine.!” Terezi finally grumbles, scrambling up after him with a last glare in your direction. “Hey! Wait!” she complains at Dave, who is already half-way down the hall.  
“Follow the sound of the music.” he jokes and, giggling, Terezi holds her arms out in front of her to mime fumbling around blindly, as if she doesn’t know exactly where she’s going after 14 years of living in this dump. 

Terezi has been in the house longer than anyone. A straight up orphan-from-birth, she was in and out of foster homes right up until she went blind. But ever since the accident, people haven’t exactly been lining up to take her in. You’re weirdly okay with this. Like the stains on the carpet or the crappy N64, she’s become a permanent fixture here. And it’s nice to know there’ll always be a familiar face to welcome you back, with her psychopathic grin, when yet another foster home goes south. 

Dave, on the other hand, was adopted a while ago by the guy he calls his brother. You’re not sure if the two are actually related, but you heard he tried to adopt Dave before and failed due to a disagreement about whether he could provide a safe home or not. That, presumably, is why Dave is avoiding his social worker. 

You flop onto the couch as the two of them, their muffled voices, and the shitty music all disappear into Terezi’s room. Probably for sloppy make-outs. You hit play and try to tell yourself that you’re glad. That you prefer to watch movies alone. That some part of you doesn’t wish Terezi was out here watching (well, listening) with you, instead of in there with him. 

\---

When the movie finishes, you sit through the credits and continue to stare at the screen even after the clip that plays over the DVD menu has looped four times already. In the end, it’s your growling stomach that finally makes you stand up. It’s already 10 O’ clock, but you don’t feel like sleeping, so you head into the kitchen and grab a new bag of popcorn from the cupboard. 

You hear footsteps on the stairs as you’re putting the bag in the microwave. Must be Terezi and Dave.. you think, bitterly. You’re only half right. 

“Oh, hey Kitkat.” Dave says, leaning over the kitchen counter. “Your movie finish yet?”  
“It finished ages ago. What have you been doing all this time?” you ask, by which you mean, ‘why the hell are you still here?’  
“Just chilling. You know, listening to music, talking..” Read: sloppy make-out sessions. “You can join us if you like.” You suppress the urge to say 'hell no' and just go with 'no' instead. “Oh, well, cool..” he says, still lingering in the kitchen.

You turn around, wondering for the second time what he’s still doing here. “Do you want something?” you ask. You can't imagine he's forgotten where anything is, or that he'd bother to ask for permission before taking it.  
“Nah, not really. Nepeta came in and started talking to Terezi and now the two of them are playing some kind of roleplaying game, so she's sort of hands-full at the moment.”  
“You're not going to join them?”  
“Not really my thing.” He shrugs. Not yours either. No matter how many times or how insistently the two of them tried to convince you to play with them. “..I was talking to Jade earlier -she says hi by the way-” (You have no idea who Jade is or why the fuck she would say anything to you) “But she logged off a while ago, so..” he trails off. You get the gist of what he's saying. He's got nothing better to do.

“So go home.” You have zero shits to give about his lack of entertainment.  
“Nah. Bro's out still out. Won't be back till morning.”  
“Don't you have a spare key?”  
“I forgot it.” he lies with a small, sheepish grin that still somehow manages to look impossibly smug. 

You know full well he intended to sleep over here in the first place, probably so he and Terezi can have sloppy make outs all night long. But he can’t just show up with a sleeping bag and a backpack like a normal fucking human being, no. Coming prepared wouldn’t be ‘cool’.  
So instead he comes over to “hang out” for “a while”. And inevitably he and Terezi end up talking or playing video games until 2am, and then it’s: ‘Oh no, it’s much too late now. Why don’t you stay over, Dave? You can sleep in my room, Dave. Dave, do you want to borrow a T-shirt? Karakat, can you lend him some clothes? Oh, that’s right, you’re too short! Hahahahahaha!!!!!’

Dave waves a hand in front of your face. “Uh.. dude, are you okay?”  
“Fine, why do you ask?” you say, digging your nails into your leg.  
“Well, your popcorn is burning.” he says and flicks a finger towards the microwave. 

Shit!

You quickly open the microwave, but you can already tell it’s too late. You tear open the bag and a cloud of disgustingly acrid smelling steam hits you in the face. Well, fuck. Pouring the popcorn into a bowl, you try to salvage what you can, separating the burnt-black pieces from the light brown only-slightly-burnt ones. Surprisingly, Strider comes over to help you. 

“What are you even doing here?” you grumble at him quietly.  
“I told you. I needed somewhere to lie low for a while, and TZ said I could stay over. She figured no one would notice one more kid in the house.” Indeed, no one had.  
“But what are you doing down here?”

He turns and fixes you with a long stare. At least, you think he does, it’s impossible to tell with his stupid glasses on. God those things are annoying. How can he even see with them on this late at night?  
“I thought we could watch a movie together.” he answers, finally. 

For a moment, all you can do is stare at him. Whatever asshole-ish response you were expecting, this was not it. You narrow your eyes at him. “Why?”  
“What? Can’t a guy just enjoy a good rom-com with his bro? Do we need to call the NCIS down here every time a-”  
“We’re not bros.” you interrupt him. “And you hate rom coms.”  
“I can like them ironically.” He counters. 

You turn around to glare suspiciously.. At your own reflection. In those stupid shades. Damn, it’s hard to intimidate someone when you’re forced to watch how ridiculous you look.  
“Fine.” You growl. “But if you say a fucking word, I’m kicking you out.”  
“Deal!” 

\---

Amazingly, Dave keeps his promise and doesn't interrupt once. You glance over every now and then when the movie reaches a lull. His eyes are glued to the screen. One hand absently drags popcorn into his mouth. He's on the floor again, cradling the bowl to his chest. You can't help wondering what his angle is on all this. You've never seen him so quiet before. Did Terezi put him up to this? And if so, what does that mean? Did she feel sorry for you? Was she trying to piss you off? Or does she actually want the two of you to get along? And if so, was that because she wanted her friend to like you, or you to like her friend? Was she trying to get your opinion on Dave, or his opinion on you?

“Hey, Dave..” you mutter, but he doesn’t turn. Surely he can’t be that interested in the movie. “Dave. Dave! Hey Asshole!”  
“Holy crap KK, you don't have to yell.” Suppressing a shudder at his newest nickname for you, you turn to glare.  
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”  
“You said if I talked during the movie, you'd kick me out.” 

You roll your eyes and look away. You can’t believe you were about to ask for advice from this asshole.

The next hour and a half is passed in silence. When the movie is over, you turn. “There, that one wasn’t so-” Dave is fast asleep, his face smushed up against the couch cushion. 

His mouth is part-way open and his glasses are pushed up on his forehead, slightly askew. He looks like a total dork when he’s sleeping. For some reason, the thought makes you smile. You wish your phone had a camera on it so you could take a picture of him. You even half consider getting him a blanket before you switch off the lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know what kind of children’s home these kids are in, apparently the kind that lets them do what-the-fuck ever at all hours of the night. So.. yeah. That’s realistic.
> 
> All comments/corrections/critiques are warmly received (because lord knows, I need them).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I shot myself in the foot making the first chapter so long.. Anyway, the next one should be up sooner. This chapter's kind of random. More will happen in the next one, I promise. 
> 
> As always, if you have any complaints, comments, corrections, or critiques, please don't hesitate to let me know.

When you wake up, Dave is curled up on the couch, a thin blanket thrown over him and a red dragon plushie shoved under his head as a pillow. 

He’s still there when you get home from school. At this point, it’s hard to tell if he left and came back, or if he’s been here the whole day. He’s on the floor again, leaning against the couch, and although you can’t see the TV from this angle, the sounds of the N64 filter into the hall. Sitting in his lap and leaning against his chest like it’s her personal backrest is the girl you might maybe have a crush on. 

You let your backpack fall noisily at the door and you can’t help but feel a smug sense of glee when Dave lifts his head and turns, making Terezi pause their game. Good. You hope you’re distracting them.  
“Don't you two ever go to school?”

“I'm home schooled.” Dave replies, to which you want to call bullshit because you're pretty sure to be homeschooled he'd actually have to go home once in a while and as far as you can tell he pretty much lives in Terezi's room now. 

Terezi, you know, alternates between driving the two hours to a school that has a program for the blind and getting home tutored (although her response to your question is to ask "What's school?" and then cackle at you). 

You turn your attention back to what they’re doing. Sitting in Dave’s lap, Terezi is holding the right half of an N64 controller while Dave holds the middle section. His right arm, reaching around her other shoulder, rests gently on her wrist to steady it. It's something they call 'Team Smash': Dave controls the movement, Terezi does the button mashing. You don’t see what’s so fun about it, but the two of them seem to find it fucking hilarious. 

You're not sure why their ability to find amusement in the stupidest little things annoys you, but it does. Extremely. 

“Did.. you want to play with us?” Dave asks while you stand by the door and pretend you’re not staring.  
“No.” you say, ~~since the game is quite clearly designed for two people~~ because it’s a stupid game and who would want to play that?  
“Then…” Dave stops and waits for you to say something. Terezi seems to have noticed your silence as well. As she leans back to look at you, her head rests against Dave’s shoulder, until their faces are only inches apart. When she turns her head, her nose brushes against his cheek and you feel your face go red.  
“Jesus, get a room!” you growl, turning away quickly. 

“What’s his problem?” you hear Dave mutter as you storm up the stairs.  
“Who knows?” she says, before she unpauses their game and their words are drowned out by the sound of Kirby beating on some COMs. 

You get to your room and slam the door. You’re pissed and, yeah, maybe a little hurt. Of all people, Terezi should know what your ‘problem’ is. She’d have to be blind (but, shit, you mean figuratively, so.. shut up) not to know how you feel about her. And while your awesome talent for self-sabotage prevented it from ever going anywhere, there was a time when you thought she felt the same. You’re not sure what happened, but.. Actually, that’s a lie. You know exactly what happened. 

You. You happened. With your over-analyzing and your paranoid self-loathing, just generally obsessing about everything and taking the fun out it. So you can kind of understand why she’s moving on. But that doesn’t mean you have to like it.. 

You sit up on your bed, dragged out of your self-pity by a knock on the door.  
“What?” you bark from where you’re sitting. It’s probably just Nepeta trying to drag you into her Exalted campaign again.  
Whoever it is doesn’t answer, but there’s a knock again, this time louder.  
Rolling your eyes, you lumber across your room and wrench open the door. “What?”

“Hey. Do you want to watch a movie?” the blonde asshole asks you. Great. Exactly who wanted to see right now..  
“I thought you were playing that idiotic game with Terezi.”  
“We finished. Now we’re gonna watch a movie.”  
You let the door slide open a little more as you raise an eyebrow at him skeptically. “Yeah? And whose idea was that?”  
“Terezi’s.” he replies without missing a beat. 

Five minutes in and it’s obvious that this was not Terezi’s idea. It’s obvious because five minutes in, she starts groaning about being bored and walks out. But if it’s not Terezi putting him up to this, why would he bother? It’s probably pity. That, or something to do with his stupid ‘irony’. Either answer pisses you off. You’d consider leaving, but… you’re kind of curious about Dave’s taste in films. 

On the screen, a black and white samurai moves his sword in an arc. It’s kind of cool, you guess, although the subtitles are a drag, and.. Hey.. Wait a sec.. 

_Did he seriously choose a movie with subtitles to watch **with Terezi?!** ___

\---

Despite how you feel about the guy, this ends up becoming something of a habit for you. To the point where, when you hear their shouts and the sounds of Mortal Kombat coming from the rec room, you automatically know to start picking out movies. When they’re done with their game, Dave goes up to Terezi’s room. But sure enough, sometime before midnight he comes back down to look for you. 

Since Dave seems to like classics, you picked out a selection of slightly less trashy, more critically acclaimed romance movies 

You suggest Casablanca, which Dave quickly vetoes.  
“There’s something wrong with you, Strider. Cassablanca is a Classic.”  
“Exactly! It’s too good. The shittier the movie, the more ironic it is to watch it.” he explains, which only serves to piss you off further when he finally (enthusiastically) agrees to watch The Notebook.

You settle down on the couch grumpily and hit play, although you brighten up as soon as the opening credit start to roll. Who cares what that asshole thinks anyway? This movie is awesome. 

Although you’ll never admit it, you’re a little bit grateful. It’s not like anyone else around here is willing to sit through a movie with you and, well, maybe you were a little bit lonely..

You glance at Dave when the movie hits a lull. You've seen it three times already anyway. “Hey.. is this really alright?” you ask.  
“Your shitty taste in movies? Hell no. But I’ll get over it. Don’t worry, the power of irony is strong in this one.”  
“Not that!”  
“Then what?” he asks after a pause.  
“Us. Hanging out so often. Doesn’t she mind?”  
“Who mind?” he asks, either feigning ignorance or completely clueless.  
“Terezi!” you snap.  
“Mind what?”Alright, now you’re certain he’s doing this on purpose.  
“Us!”  
“Huh?” Dave looks at you for the first time in the whole conversation, and then smirks. “Nah, dude. I think she’s into it. She even tried to add us to Nepeta’s shipping wall, but she got really angry for some reason and wouldn’t let her.”  
“W-what?! That’s..” you splutter, your ears turning an embarrassing shade of red. You try to tell him that’s not what you meant, but you can’t because your brain has literally decided to stop functioning. Like a shark smelling the proverbial blood in the water, Dave’s smirk deepens.  
“What? Does the prospect of someone shipping us make you nervous? Are you worried you’re going to wake up one morning and find a bunch of gay fanfiction written about us on the internet? Don’t fear the gay fanfiction, Karkat. The gay fanfiction is your friend.”  
“Oh, god! Just shut up.”  
“Not until you embrace the gay fanfiction, Karkat. Like, literally. Just give it a hug. It only wants your approval. Look, now it’s trying to give you a bro fist and you’re leaving it hanging. Don’t leave it hanging, dude. You’ll emotionally scar it for life. Like, when it grows up and meets another fanfiction that it’s kind of into, instead of thinking about shacking up and having lots of baby fanfictions together, it’ll be thinking about how you never loved it and feel like it doesn’t deserve to be loved, so instead it’ll push everyone away, and-”  
“Jesus, is there an off button on you?” you fume when he stops to take a breath.  
“Nope! Just embrace it, Karkat. Embrace it like the gay fanfiction you neglected as a child.”  
“Ugh!”  
“Don’t blame me, Karkat. I tried to be a good parent. But it’s tough to raise a fanfiction on your own. It needed its father.”  
“Christ..” you mutter to yourself. This is going to me a long evening.  
“I was working three jobs just to make ends meet. It’s hard being a single parent, Karkat. It’s hard and nobody understands..”

You decide the best way to get him to shut up is to ignore him. You are sadly mistaken. He manages to run his mouth another fifteen minute before he finally stops talking. 

You lean back, fuming. Well, this movie’s been ruined now. Attention successfully diverted, you don’t even remember what you original question was..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. I'm really not very good at doing the Dave Rant. I thought I should try it at least once, but Dave will probably be a lot less ranty in future chapters. Sorry. 
> 
> Also, Team Smash is a real game I made up to play with my friends! I've only ever done it with a Game Cube remote, though, so I'm not sure how it would be on N64. It's actually pretty fun. If you want to play, just make sure to turn on tap jump so both sides can control jumping, and then just split the controls down the middle; one person controls everything on the right side, one person controls everything on the left. It's especially good when you have one person who's a lot better at Smash, since it's a pretty good handicap! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I lied.. nothing actually happens.
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, sorry. I wrote it as something random that I wasn't originally planning to include, but I wanted to clarify some of the characters feelings about each other, and this chapter does that. 
> 
> Umm.. Hope you enjoy it.
> 
> (Stuff will happen in the next one I swear)

When you walk into the living room, the first thing you notice is that Strider is actually fucking sitting on the couch for once. Of course, he's completely cross-legged on the left-most cushion and facing the wrong fucking way, but whatever. It’s still an improvement. Terezi is crosslegged on the floor, her ridiculously long claw-like nails splayed across the soft curve of the armrest.

The second thing you notice is that the whole room smells like nail polish. 

Dave twists the bottle he was holding closed and goes for two more, a bright-ass pink and some ugly neon yellow. He holds them out to her, caps carefully removed. “Kay TZ, pinky next. Which one do you want?”

You can't imagine they smell like anything other than disgusting chemicals, but Terezi dutifully leans in to sniff them both, before eventually reaching out with her tongue to slide it across this bottle of the neon yellow.  
“This one!” she says in a satin-like purr that always manages to remind you why you fell for her. 

As you linger in the doorway and watch them, you realize that neither one has noticed you are there. They’re so absorbed in each other’s company, it’s like nothing else exists outside this room and this moment. And try as you might, you can’t force back the jealousy that rises in the pit of your stomach. 

The deep bitterness of self-loathing comes to join it. You know (part of you knows) that it could be you there, doing stupid silly shit with her, if only you could just let go like he does; smile, relax, stop complaining all the time, stop getting pissed off at every little thing.. But for some reason, you never do. Your bitchy self-righteous anger, or Terezi.. It sure as hell doesn't seem like a tough choice. So what's the problem? You ask yourself. What are you so afraid of?

Obediently, Dave opens the neon yellow bottle and dips in the brush, stooping over her hand to focus on his work. His shades slide halfway down his nose, so that when he finally looks up and notices you there you think you see a flash of blonde lashes before he nudges them back up his nose with the back of his wrist, avoiding any contact with the neon yellow brush. 

“Oh, hey, Karkat.” he says, his self-indulgent grin becoming a shade more reserved. At first, he goes back to painting Terezi's nails but when you fail to say anything in response, he looks back and catches you starring. “What, you want me to do yours next?” he asks, teasing. 

Normally you would glare at them. Yell at them. Say something like ‘who the fuck would want that, asshole?’ But you do. You do want to. You want to go and join them, but you can't. Why? They would make fun of you for sure, but who cares? What the fuck are you so afraid of?

When you don't say anything, his smile starts to crack. He shoots Terezi a confused look that she can’t see. 

Part of you wants to slip back into what’s comfortable. To yell, get pissed off, get made fun of, and make fun of them back. It wasn't perfect, but at least it was something. At least you had a place, a role. At least you fit in. But you can’t. You just don’t have the energy. 

Your hand slips from the doorframe as though it’s gone numb. You can’t.. 

You turn and walk away. 

 

“Karkat!” Dave stands up, distress in his voice. He seems about to follow, but soon remembers that he’s holding the neon yellow nail polish in his hand and doesn't know what to do with it. In that short moment of hesitation, a voice traps him. 

“Dave?” 

Terezi's voice is a note higher than normal. Her own, once-genuine grin had become that familiar toothy mask she was never quite able to keep up around him. It’s clear that she doesn’t want him to leave, although she’ll never say so; always ready to pretend to be more secure than she is, to get over herself and be brave.. Which is exactly why Dave was never able to leave her alone.  
Terezi had liked him for a while, that much he knows. There were days that he’d wished he could like her back the same way. But what he has with Terezi now is stronger and deeper than anything he’d felt with the people he dated. He might be madly in love with the angry troll upstairs, but if it meant losing Terezi, he didn't think he could do it..

“Tch!” With an irritated huff, Dave sighs and sits down. “I wonder what's eating him?" he mumbles, before returning to his work. 

But the once comfortable and familiar silence of their company had become disturbed and for the rest of the evening, a heavy gloom lingered between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this one was short, I'll try to get the next chapter to you sooner than usual. 
> 
> Thanks everyone for the comments of encouragement. It really inspires me to keep going :]


	4. Chapter 4

When Dave started eating his toothpaste, he knew he'd hit rock bottom. 

Bro had gone out of town for a couple weeks and, like an idiot, Dave blew all the money he'd left for food in the first few days. 

At first, he was really hungry. He drank all the AJ, ate every random scrap of food in the house, and used up any money he could find buying from the dollar menu at McDonalds. 

Then he was just really tired. He'd lie around on the couch all day, mixing beats on his laptop (it was winter break so there was no school), and every now and then he would idly find himself wandering into the kitchen looking for some food. And when he remembered that they didn't have any, he would just drink a glass of water and go back to bed. 

Now he’d hit a point where he was both tired _and_ hungry. Where he'd get half way through tearing up the house to look for anything to eat, before giving up and just lying on the floor, too exhausted to move. And it sucked.

He wanted to ask Bro when he’d be getting home, but that wouldn’t be cool. Besides, he knew he couldn’t bother him. Bro had a hard enough time making money without him getting in his way. There was only one thing left to do. 

Dragging himself up, Dave threw a hoodie over his day-old shirt and jeans and started pulling on his shoes. He was glad that he couldn't turn his beaten-up bus pass in for the deposit because otherwise he totally would have done that days ago to buy something to eat. 

___

You’re sitting on the couch in the rec room when you hear the front door burst open and loud, unsteady footsteps stagger into the house. You just assume it’s Gamzee coming back stoned again and continue playing your game. So you’re surprised to see Dave’s face appear in the doorway. When he sees you, he staggers in a couple steps and then melodramatically collapses on the floor like an angsty teenage girl, flinging his arms across the couch cushion and burying his head in-between them. 

You refuse to acknowledge this and go right on playing your video game. 

“Karkat, make me a sandwich.” you hear, muffled through the sleeve of his shirt.   
“Make your own goddamn sandwich, asswipe.”  
“I can't, too hungry.”   
“That's fucking stupid.”  
“Karkat, please, I'm begging you.” he says, and his voice holds just enough sincerity to make you drop your controller on your lap with an irritated huff and glare down at him. 

He doesn’t lift his head. It’s hard to tell, but maybe his clothes do look a little baggier than usual on him. You give in and stand up, flinging your controller on the couch behind you. 

You do _not_ make this stupid human a sandwich. You do, however, go and grab a bag of pretzels from the kitchen and drop it on his head. Still, he doesn't seem to complain. Actually, just the opposite. You don't think you've ever seen someone eat so fast. 

When he's finished, he sighs happily and leans back into his folded arms, which are still resting on the seat of the couch.   
“What the fuck happened?” you ask, thinking that maybe -just maybe- if he can give you an honest answer without being a snarky sarcastic asshole, you might just decide to take pity on him.   
“Bro's out of town. No food. So hungry.” he continues to mumble thorough his arms.   
You snort and unpause your game, picking up the controller again. “Well, gee, sorry for my snap judgment about your guardian before. Obviously this guy deserves the fucking ‘Parent of the Year’ award.”  
“Shaddup..”  
“So tell me this, dumbass, did you ever think that maybe when your so-called guardian beats you up on a regular basis, leaves you by yourself for extended periods of time, and forgets to leave any food in the house, it’s time to entertain the thought that _maybe_ they don’t have what it takes to raise a child?”

Dave turns his head to the side so you can hear him better. “So, okay, fine. Maybe he's not the best guardian ever in every possible way, but he's my Bro. I'm not going to leave him.”  
"Are you two even related?"

There's a rustling of fabric as Dave sudden lifts his head and turns around, using the couch as a back rest now. With one knee up, he rests his arm across and stares off to the side. At first, you think he's going to pretend he didn't hear you.

“Well, probably..” he mutters  
That makes you raise an eyebrow. “Probably?”  
He turns his head to look at you, the tips of his lashes just visible above the rims of his glasses from your vantage point on the couch. “Yeah, dude, probably.” he repeats, seeming a little ticked off. “But even if we weren't, he'd still be my Bro. We've been together longer than anyone. You don't even know..” He rests his chin back on the couch. His gaze seems distant, and strangely somber, not that you can really tell with those stupid shades on.. “It wasn’t always like this here.” he mumbles, so quiet you can barely hear him. So quiet, you think maybe you weren’t supposed to. He sighs heavily, body sagging against the couch. He actually looks really tired. “Ask Terezi about it sometime.”

The bleak atmosphere only lingers in the air for a few moments, before Dave pulls himself together.   
“Speaking of Terezi, where is she anyway?” he asks, bad mood vanishing.   
You shake your head, turing back to your video game. “Out. Of town. Some blind culture thing. She'll be gone all weekend..” So hopefully he'll take the hint and go away. He doesn't.   
“Perfect! I'll sleep in her room, then.”  
“Wait- you're _staying_?!”  
“Uh.. duh? Didn't you hear me? There's no food in my house. I can't go back until Bro gets home.”

He doesn't seem upset though. In fact, he never seems to get upset about anything. “So what are you doing, anyway, watching another stupid rom com?” he asks, looking at the TV for the first time since getting here. You don't need to answer, since the screen obviously shows that you were playing Mario Kart. "Hey, cool. Wanna do two player?" he asks, annoyingly chipper again. His momentary lapse in stoic fuckery now forgotten. You pause your game and hand him the remote. 

"Whatever. You can finish the lap. I'll be right back. Just don't fuck it up for me, I'm in the lead." you tell him. 

Getting up, you head to the kitchen. Where you, Karkat Vantas, make the asshole a sandwich. 

___

You come back into the room about three minutes later and hand him the plate and a can of soda. You started feeling stupid about it half way through, so you added some random crap just to fuck with him (like peanut butter and mayonaise), but he eats it like it's the best fucking thing in the world. Shit, he really must've been hungry.. You kind of feel bad now. 

“Here.” he says, when he's finished licking all the mayo, honey, and hot sauce off of his fingers. He holds out the remote with a smug grin. “You came in eighth.”  
At first, you think he’s joking around just to fuck with you. Then you look at the score. 

“Shit, man! What the fuck?!”

\---

You glance at the corner of the screen opposite yours, watching Dave’s character warily. You were a little afraid playing a video game with Strider would turn into some huge competitive shit show, but it's actually pretty much exactly like playing against the computer.. Only, with a little more yelling.

“Ah, shit! What the hell?!” The sounds of futile button mashing break through his swearing as he rams the controller with his thumb. “I fucking _know_ I’m going the wrong way you stupid cloud elf, now shut up about it already! God, fuck you too lava!” he yells, flipping off the screen and throwing down his controller. He seems to have resigned himself to getting last place again, but watches you with some interest before you cross the finish line in first and start your victory lap. 

There's a small, awkward silence as you wait for enough of the COMs to pass the finish line for the game to officially declare Dave the loser. 

“Aren't you going to finish?” you ask.   
“What's the point?” he says, gesturing toward his small square of screen space. You can see what he means. He's somehow managed to get himself backed up into a corner, wedged snugly between the wall and a bush, causing the game to freak out every time he tries to reverse. 

“Hah! You really suck at this.” you laugh, trying not to gloat. Well, maybe a little..  
“Yeah, well… Me and Tez mostly play fighting games.” He mutters defensively.   
“Yeah, yeah, gimme your controller. I’ll get you unstuck.”

\---

Terezi is getting back on Monday. So is Dave's Bro. He's lying on the floor in rec room when he gets the message. 

You’re on the couch, covered in a duvet and surrounded by stale popcorn. You’d spent most of the weekend playing video games (Dave is, admittedly, much better at fighting games than you are, but you still kick his ass at Mario Kart) and making fun of each other’s tastes in movies, but he insisted on dragging the sleeping bags out here for at least one night to make this ‘an official fucking sleepover’ (his words). He also expressed interest in braiding your hair and talking about boys, but that's where you drew the line and gave in to his offer of just camping out in front of the TV, watching movies, and eating candy. 

He was holding the phone above his head when all of a sudden his arms deflated, coming to rest on his chest with a light thump. And you had just started falling asleep, too.   
“Bro's coming back tomorrow.” he mutters.   
“Good, I can finally get rid of your ugly ass.” you snort. 

“...shit, I don't wanna go back.” he whispers, only barely loud enough for you to hear. You don't think he meant you to hear, or even meant to say it, but it suddenly just came out. When you shift your head to look at him, Dave flushes and rolls over, pretending to read something on his phone (although you can see very well from here that he's just staring at a blank screen). 

You plan to ignore it. You don't mean to say anything at all. It's none of your business anyway.. 

“So don't.” you whisper back. 

Dave is still staring pretend-absorbed at his phone. You don't think he's going to respond..   
“I have to.” he mutters, not mad or moping, just certain. A modest, slightly amused smile stretches across his lips. And it amazes you once again, as someone who is frequently annoyed by the smallest of things, that even something he is unhappy about could make him smile. And now, maybe, just a little bit, you can understand why Terezi calls him the 'cool kid'. He turns off his phone's screen and the room goes black, but you can tell from the rustle of his sleeping bag that he's rolled over onto his back. Probably trying to go to sleep. You do the same. 

Only as you're about to fall asleep does another thought occur to you. _“I don't wanna go back.”_ Did he mean he didn't want to go home, or that he didn't want to leave?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. I wasn't sure how to do the Dave part at the beginning, but in the end I decided against switching back and forth between two second person POVs. This one was short, but there'll be at least one other part from Dave's point of view in the future, so if you have a strong opinion on the matter please let me know and I'll consider going about it a different way (if the sudden third person bothered you)
> 
> Anyway.. Any comments, corrections, or critiques are always welcome. And as ever, thank you for reading :]


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a little longer than the others. I wish I could say it was because I spent an extra long time making this chapter super awesome, but it's actually because I'm getting ready to move.
> 
> This chapter contains some karezi and some backstory. Hope you're not disappointed.

School starts back up and it's a while before you see the blonde asshole again. Which would be a fucking cause for celebration, if it weren't for the way Terezi has been acting lately.

Which is not to say she’s been moping around the house like a lovesick school girl. She still plays her stupid roleplaying games. She still draws on Nepeta’s tumblr, and on the walls, and on your face if you fall asleep in the common room. She still watches her courtroom dramas and yells at the screen when the criminals get off (from what you can tell, she doesn't care about the crimes, she just likes guilty verdicts) and rants about how much of a better job she would do if she was working for the prosecution. Most people probably wouldn't notice the difference.

But that ‘Terezi’ is like a brand name, a front, a package. It’s like the shiny red logo on a Coca-Cola bottle. What's missing is the Terezi who smiles when no one’s watching, who is comfortable with long periods of silence, who doesn’t mind her blindness, and who gets excited about the stupidest little things and isn't afraid to show it.

And, as much as you hate to admit it, it's hard not to notice how well they fit together, like two pieces of the same person. How Terezi's legs curve perfectly around Dave’s when they’re curled together on the couch. Or how his forearm is just the right length to cradle her head. It almost makes you wish the jerk would hurry back already.

 

You find Terezi in her usual spot beneath the couch. A Mortal Kombat cut scene scrolls across the TV. She’s playing a fighting game on story mode; this has to be a bad sign.

When you ask to join her she doesn’t say a word, but leans forward and hits the restart button, selecting two player when the options come on screen. You think you might just see a smile beneath her exasperated expression.

She thoroughly hammers you.

You haven’t won a match against Terezi since the first time she hustled you to win your last three Pixie Stix. You keep playing anyway.

Part way through your seventh match, you suddenly remember something:  
“Oh yeah. What's the deal with Dave’s brother?” you say, trying to sound casually disinterested and failing utterly.  
“Huuuh? What makes you think I know?” she says, raising an eyebrow.  
“Dave told me to ask you.”

With the satisfying clack of aggressive plastic-on-plastic button mashing, Terezi finishes her combo and your character goes flying. She puts down her controller and folds her arms into her chest.

“Hmmm..” She seems to ponder that for a minute. “Um, it’s not like I know whole story..” she mutters. He tone is softer than before. Turning her head, she scratches the back of her neck and frowns, like she’s trying to decide what to say.

“Dave never told me what happened to them to begin with..” she starts. “Well, no, I guess he wouldn't remember.. He says his Bro keeps changing the story too.." She shakes her head and shrugs "The point is, sometime roughly twelve years ago, the cops found this thirteen-year-old kid out on the streets alone. When they followed him back to his hideout, they found him with this little toddler that he'd been looking after all by himself. That was Dave's Bro. ”

“So, obviously, the two of them end up in foster care. They came here maybe... ten years ago? Dave was either four or five, I don't remember. And I was in and out of here all the time back then.” Of course, you think, back then she was young and cute and not blind. “Unlike them. They refused to be split up. I remember Dave would flip his tiny little shit whenever anyone tried; screaming bloody murder and kicking and biting anything that moved. And once they gave in, he would just go back to normal, fist-bump his bro and eat a bag of Doritos.”

She leans back against the couch, face tilted towards the ceiling.

“But.. Well, this place was different then.” she mutters, her voice changing. You remember Dave saying something similar. “Now it’s just full of rejects, but it used to be a dumping ground for all the kids who were too violent or unstable to make it in foster homes. You could get beat up for anything back then. For looking at someone funny, for having the wrong skin color, or just ‘cause someone was having a bad day and felt like punching out their frustration. But Dave's bro was cool. He was the only one who would look out for us little kids. He taught Dave and me how to fight and stuff, and as soon as he turned 18 he started working towards getting Dave out too.”

“And then.. When you met Dave it was what, four years ago?” You nod. You only knew him for a short time, but you don’t remember liking him very much. Although you didn’t know it at the time, Dave had just come back after living with his brother for a year. Shortly after that, you went on to your fourth foster home and by the time you came back, Dave was gone again.

“Why’d he get taken away?” you ask.  
“Hmm.. not a stable home environment? Something like that. I don’t remember the exact reason they gave, but I think it boiled down to the fact that his Bro didn’t make enough money. Dave always blamed himself, though. He said he was too honest with the social workers. Said he should have lied and told them everything was apple pies and church-on-Sundays, instead of rap battles and samurai swords.”

Which explains why he's so keen on hiding from his social workers.

“There’s one more thing I should mention,” Terezi continues, “Dave’s bro is a genius, and not just for all the stupid stuff Dave will tell you about, like rap or puppets or irony. I mean he’s actually a genius. He dual-enrolled throughout highschool so that when he left he could finish his bachelor’s degree in just one year, even though he was working part-time.”  
“If he’s so smart, shouldn’t it have been easy for him to find a high paying job out of college?”  
“Dunno.” she says, and you know she’s lying. “But after another two years, he managed to get Dave back. I guess he found himself a better job.”

There’s an air of finality in her voice that tells you, satisfied or no, she is done talking about this. She picks up her controller with a playful smile and the mood shifts. “Now… Want to make it 8-0, or have you had enough?”

“Bring it on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you notice any errors, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm not the best proof reader.
> 
> I'll try to get the next one out quicker. Thanks for reading :]


	6. Chapter 6

You enter the living room and your jaw drops.

Dave is here and to your utter fucking amazement, he's actually sitting on the couch like a goddamn normal human being: ass in seat, feet on floor, one hand draped lazily over the armrest (where it fucking belongs). Of course, Terezi is sprawled out across the other cushion, her head on Dave's lap and her legs swinging over the armrest on the other side. Still, this is pretty fucking normal for them.

Dave is watching an old samurai flick while Terezi doesn't bother to hide her boredom. Shifting one leg so her toes curl over the armrest, she rests her ipod on her knee, the chord of one earbud disappearing behind her thick black hair, the other loose across her chest.

You know Terezi well enough not to expect her to budge, so you walk around to the other side of the couch, where Dave obligingly tucks his elbow close to his chest to let you lean against the arm rest.

"What are you doing here? Did your brother forget to feed you again?" you ask.  
"No." Dave grumbles, clearly not fond of you bringing this up every time you see him.  
Terezi giggles. "Should we tell him?" she asks Dave, her tone conspiratorial.  
Dave shrugs. "Up to you, babe."

You freeze. Oh god. You think. They're finally going to come clean and admit they're dating. It's nothing you haven't suspected for a while now, but somehow hearing it from them makes your heart sink and your stomach turn. You thought you were over this, but you're not. It's becoming clear to you that you don't want to hear this. You try to cut them off.  
"Uh, look! I think I know what you're going to say. So, uh, you don't have to tell me!"

Terezi frowns. "What?! Dave did you tell him?" she asks, accusingly.  
"No way. I didn't even know myself until a couple days ago."  
She glares. "Karkat, have you been going through my computer?"  
"What? No! It's just- with the way you two have been acting.."  
"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Terezi blinks her big blind eyes at you for a few seconds before a knowing and sadistic smile pulls at the corners of her face. You backpeddle quickly, though you have a feeling it's too late-  
"Umm… Nothing. What are you talking about?"  
"We were trying to tell you that Tez and I have decided to make a webcomic together, so I'll be coming around a lot more."  
More than all the time? you think, but have no time to pursue that line of questioning, because Terezi is on the scent like a shark on a dying seal.  
"Karkat.. What did you think we were going to say?"

"Nothing!" you say quickly (a little too quickly) and with all the innocence of a convicted criminal. "Nothing at all."  
"You thought we were.." she stops and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.  
"Were what?" asks Dave, shifting his eyes from the movie he was still trying to watch.  
"You know.." she says, and her next action is less suggestive, more demonstrative.  
"No! Ew. God, no!" you cut in, if just to make her stop. "I just thought you were finally going to admit you're dating, that's all!"

"Woah, woah, wait!" Dave cuts in, "We're not dating."  
"Not that we don't make out sometimes." Terezi giggles.  
"Terezi!" Dave complains, while you fail to suppress a shudder. You turn and bolt for your room. "Karkat!"

\---

You slam the door of your room and fall face first onto your bed. You want to believe that it's just Dave you have the problem with, that you just don't like the idea of her dating him, but deep down you know it wouldn't matter who it was. You don't like the thought of her dating anyone. Which is dumb because it's not like you're doing anything about these feelings. Except moping around, that is.

You hear the echoings of an animated discussion from downstairs, followed by a knock on your door. You groan, wait for three seconds, then finally drag yourself out of bed and go to the door. It's not like there's any way to pretend that you're not in. You don't need to check who it is before you swing open the door. "What do you want, Strider?"  
"Hey, uh, I think there was a misunderstanding before.."  
"Really?" you bite out impatiently.  
"There's something I need to tell you, and, uh, I wasn't sure how to find the words before, but the truth is…"  
"You and Terezi are an item, I get it."  
"Uh, no dude, you really don't-"  
"Stop. Just, stop. Look, I don’t' know why you somehow feel obligated to care about my feelings, but I don't need your pity party! I don't give a shit about you, and I don't give a shit about Terezi, so you two can just.."  
"Woah, hey!" he cuts you off shortly after you bring up Terezi. "I get that you don't like me, fine, but Terezi's your friend. She doesn't deserve that."  
"No offense, Strider, but you don't know the first thing about me and Terezi."  
"Well, no offense Karkat, but I think I know Terezi a little better than you do."

If there was a right thing to say in this situation, this was definitely not it. Dave seems to sense this and shrinks back for a second, before reinflating to hold your gaze.  
"What do you know about Terezi?" you hiss.  
"I know she'd be devastated if she heard you talking like that, even if she pretended it didn't bother her."  
It's even more annoying because you know he's right. If you were a better friend, you'd be happy for her. But right now, you're too angry. "Well, great! You seem to have everything figured out then. You two should be very happy together."  
"We're not- Ugh! This isn't even what I wanted to talk to you about!"  
"Well then what is?!"

Dave straightens up to his full height (shit, you forgot how tall he was since he's always slouching) and glares down at you. He takes a long breath through his nose like he's trying you calm himself down, but it doesn't seem to work.  
"You know what, never mind! Terezi was right about you. It's not worth it."  
Your face goes red, but from anger or embarrassment, you can't tell. "Good!" you yell, even though it doesn't make a lot of sense. You slam the door in his face, and go back to your bed and an evening alone with your self-loathing. You don't think about the look on Dave's face when you closed the door on him. Or how long the sound seemed to echo down the hall.

\---

Terezi was sitting on her bed, knees to chest. She had her headphones on, so she didn't hear the door, but she sat up the minute she felt the bed depress in front of her.

"You're back." she said, a little surprised. She scooted to the edge of the bed and let her legs slide down so they were on either side of his. She wrapped her arms around his chest, laying her head against the flat of his shoulder. "Did you tell him?"

"Nope. Chickened out." he said, matter-of-factly. He was half expecting a lecture, or at least a teasing comment, but all he felt was her arms around him squeeze a little tighter.

Dave sighed and relaxed into her embrace. He could feel her curves melting into his back. Her heart beat echoed in his lungs. For all his raging hormones and teenage lust, no physical contact had ever been as powerful as this. He felt as though all their thoughts and feelings could pass through the contact between their skin, until words were unnecessary.

They weren't perfect, neither one of them was perfect, but if they could pour all their problems together and share out the pain between them, somehow it felt like everything would work out okay. Dave wasn't particularly religious (his bro never took him to church or anything like that) but he imagined heaven was what the world would be like if everyone could feel this way about each other.

And that was so stupidly clichéd that he really wished he meant it ironically, but he didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. It's been a busy summer, but I have a new job and a new home now, and I should be able to return to a regular update schedule. I'm still getting back into the flow of things, so sorry if this one comes out a little awkward. 
> 
> Thanks everyone for your patience, and as always, thank you for reading. :]


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warning: Very brief mention of self harm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needs editing, but I wanted to get this up now. 
> 
> Thanks everyone for reading! And if you have any questions, complaints, or comments, please don't hesitate to let me know.

After staying the night with Terezi, Dave felt better, more grounded, less stressed. She was like an anchor for his emotions, always keeping him from straying too far. And he was surprised to find that facing Karkat again was easier than he thought.. 

\---

You sit on the couch with a stack of DVDs and a bowl of popcorn. 

Dave came over early to work on their stupid webcomic. From what you've been able to see, it's mostly scratchy cartoon faces and what you guess is supposed to be Dave. You have to admit, Terezi is pretty good for someone who can't actually see. Dave, on the other, is surprisingly shitty given that he actually can see. Artistically, you'd say they're about on the same level.

When they go into Teerezi's room, you pick out a movie and wait on the couch. By the time he comes downstairs, you've already eaten your way through half the bowl of popcorn.  
"There you are! Jesus, what took you so long?"  
"You... wanna watch a movie?" he asks.  
"No, I want to play one of your shitty video games." you drawl sarcastically, sidling over to the DVD player on your knees so you can put the movie in. Dave sits down next to you and hugs his knees, surprisingly quiet. "You were late, so I already picked. Sorry, but if you want an opinion, you should get here sooner."

You turn. No complaints. No snarky comebacks. Dave is still just sitting there, staring at you like you just beamed down from the mothership.  
"What?" you growl.  
Finally, his dazed stare breaks into that familiar smirk. "Nothing. Never mind. So, what fresh hell of a movie do you plan to torture me with today?"

\---

Okay, so maybe starting Silver Linings Playbook at 2am was a bad idea. By the time it finishes, it's after four. 

Dave stretches his arms over his head and checks the time on his phone.  
"Holy hell it's late. Mind if I sleep here tonight?"  
"Don't you always?"  
"I meant down here."  
"What, you're too lazy to walk up one flight of stairs?"  
"Pretty much."  
You stand and shrug, switching off the DVD menu that's been playing for the last ten minutes. "I don't give a fuck. Do whatever you want."

\---

You go into the kitchen to wash out your bowl and decide to come back at what is apparently the worst possible moment.  
Dave is half naked, pulling his shirt off over his head. Your eyes widen.  
"What the shit, Dave!"  
“Dude, I'm _changing_. I mean, I can't blame you for wanting to watch -who wouldn't want a piece of this?- but shouldn't I be the one screaming like a little-"  
"I'm not talking about that, you moron!" You gorwl, stomping over. You grab his arm and turn it over forcefully. “I’m talking about this!”  
Dave looks down at his wrist where a long straight scar travels the length of his arm. He looks back up to meet your gaze, his face completely serious. “My hot muscles? Yeah, so was I.”  
“You think this is funny?! Self-harm is not funny!”  
“Woah! Woah, dude. Calm down. I did not do that to myself.” You look at him and raise an eyebrow. "Really! I got that sparring.."

You look down at his arm, your initial panic fading to a different (now very familiar) feeling as you trace the pale scar tissue across his skin. "Seriously?"

Dave must've mistaken your disbelief for awe, because he smirks and nods proudly. “Cool, huh? That's why you don't use your forearm to block a sword." he laughs.  
You expect him to pull away, but he doesn’t. Instead, he shuffles closer so you can get a better look. While he’s letting you, you take your time inspecting the wound. You know he won’t be so inclined in a few minutes. The scar is soft and thick, raised above the skin enough that you can feel the difference in texture when you brush your thumb across his wrist. It must have been deep.  
Dave is quiet, uncharacteristically so. If you looked up, you would’ve noticed the slight redness of his cheeks, and maybe you would've realized just how close the two of you are, but you don't because you're too focused on his arm right now.

"Are you telling me your brother did this?"  
"Well, it was his sword, but I'm the idiot who stuck my arm in front of it..." Dave starts "Oh! Wait, did you see this one?" he says, turning and craning his neck over his shoulder to get a look at the mess of scar tissue on his upper left shoulder. "You should have seen bro, he was-"  
"Dave, this is serious!" you say in what you think (given the circumstances) is a reasonably calm voice. "You really don't see how this is a problem?"

Dave starts to frown. As you expected, he pulls his wrist out of your grip. "As a matter of fact, I don't!"  
You tell yourself that you need to be calm and tactful about this if you want him to listen to you, but before you know it, you're shouting again. God, why do you always end up fighting over this? Why do you even care?

"I'm telling you, it's fine!" Dave shouts back at you.  
"It’s _not_ fine. It’s dangerous and it’s abuse."  
"God, you make it sound like he’s punching my lights out because I got a D in history or didn’t take the garbage out on time. We only do those things because I want to."  
“That still doesn’t make it right!”

Dave’s jaw tightens. He does that thing where he stands up straight and lifts his chin, reminding you how much taller he is. The thing he does when he's trying to intimidate someone. The thing he only does when he's angry.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you think my bro's worse than anyone you've ever been put with."  
That hits hard. All the bad memories come flooding back. People that hurt you, parents that hated you, parents that just don’t give a shit..  
Your hands tighten at your side.

"Maybe not, but the difference is, when I get a bad foster home, I leave."

You glare at him stubbornly. Dave just stares back coolly and starts making faces at you. You roll your eyes and turn to leave. 

Now it's Dave's turn to grab your arm. He can probably tell that you're pissed off, and thus even less likely to be dissuaded from doing something rash (like reporting their 'swordplay' to Child Protective Services). There's something desperate in his voice when he finally finds the words to speak.  
"Look, I told you about this stuff because I trust you. So trust me too, okay? I'm telling you I'm fine with it. I wouldn't lie about this shit."

You bite your lip, hard, until your teeth start sinking into the skin. You think of what Terezi told you about his bro, and the way Dave talks about him like he's the coolest thing since frozen burritos. Then you think about the scars, all the days he showed up with bruises under his shades, and how he always comes here hungry. And you're just not sure... 

"Karkat." Dave puts his hand over yours and looks you right in the eyes (you think). "I'm fine. It's fine. Trust me." 

It takes a long moment of silent consideration, but finally you nod. "Yeah, okay.. I trust you." you say.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, given people's reaction to last chapter, I have a feeling you're not going to like this.. Things turn around soon, I promise!

You come home after school to find Terezi in her usual place beneath the couch. When you heard the N64 going, you half expected to find Dave with her. Apparently she's mastered the art of playing Mario Brothers by sound alone.  
"Where's Dave? I thought he was coming over today."  
"Me too." she says, dangerous irritation lacing her voice. 

You step into the kitchen, only planning to get yourself a drink and come back, but to your surprise Terezi pauses her game and follows you. That's not a good sign. She doesn't like to be alone when she's angry.  
You grab two sodas out of the fridge while Terezi falls into a kitchen chair with an irritated huff. She holds her phone tightly in her fist.  
"What happened?" you ask, putting the first of the two cans down in front of her.  
She shrugs, sighs. "He said had to go to the doctor's."  
"Why?!"  
"Dunno." she says, flipping her phone around so the screen is facing you. There's an unopened message in her snapchat, and it's from Dave. 

You open it. In it is a picture of Dave sitting on what is quite obviously a hospital bed, throwing up a stupid one handed peace sign with his other arm in a cast and sling. His face sports several bruises and his nose is swollen and flushed. He's drawn one of his stupid cartoon faces in the corner of the screen and the caption says #thuglife. 

You have literally no words. 

You don’t know why you’re mad, but you are. You’re mad at Dave for making light of the situation, you’re definitely mad at his so-called guardian for letting it happen. But most of all, you’re mad at yourself. Because when he told you things were fine, you believed him. 

How could he let this happen? How could you?

You come back to your senses with a heavy kick to your shins. "Hey! What does it say?!"  
Terezi is doing the thing where she seems to glare and grin at the same time, and she swings her leg, kicking you again. You can tell she’s worried, though.  
"It's just a broken arm." You tell her. "Nothing serious." But that’s a lie. 

Terezi takes her phone back, frowning at the screen. It sounds dumb, but sometimes it takes moments like these for you to remember that Terezi is actually blind. She compensates so well in everyday life, that sometimes you forget. But her thumb brushes across the flat black screen, and not even Daredevil's superhuman hearing or Toph's bad ass earth bending could tell her what was on it. It would never be anything but a flat piece of metal and glass to her.

Maybe Dave gets that better than you do. He makes up those dumb games like 'team brawl' so Terezi can play Smash without it seeming like he's helping her. But he can be a serious dick about it too, choosing silent movies to watch or sending her dozens of snapchats. You know that most of the time he does it to be ironic (and most of the time Terezi thinks it’s funny) but you can tell that today she’s annoyed, even if she won’t show it. You also know that the more serious a situation is, the more Dave feels compelled to be an asshole about it, hiding his feelings behind layers of his stupid fake irony and meandering bullshit rants, and.. Wow, since when did you care enough about this asshole to notice stuff like that?

You go back into the living room, leaving Terezi to stare at her phone in peace because, like you said, you have literally no words. You can't even imagine what you're supposed to say the next time you see Dave... I told you so? 

At first you thought the room was empty, but as you move around to the other side of the couch, you can see that Nepeta is curled up on one of the cushions like a cat (because apparently no one in this house is capable of using a couch the way it was fucking intended). Still, she's small enough that curled up like that, she can fit entirely on a single cushion. 

You plop down next to her. 

Until recently you almost never saw her, thanks to that slightly dickish, kind of racist, 'not boyfriend' whatever-the-fuck of hers. But ever since he left for a new foster home, you can tell she's been lonely. Somehow, seeing her there makes you smile. Without thinking, you reach out a hand and stroke her hair. Nepeta hums softly and smiles at the touch. You thought she might've been sleeping, but she's clearly very much awake, although she doesn't move or open her eyes. You're a little embarrassed, but it's too late to go back now, so you start casually playing with her hair like this is totally a thing you do. 

Just.. touching girl hair. Nothing to see here. 

"Is Dave okay?" she mumbles. She must've heard your conversation in the kitchen. You didn't even think of telling her, but you guess she and Dave hang out a lot too.  
"Idiot got his arm broken." you grumble.  
"What happened?"  
"Probably his stupid brother." you say, not hiding the disapproval in your voice.  
Nepeta pushes herself up onto her elbows and turns to look at you with a wide-eyed stare. "His brother?"  
"Brother, guardian, whatever. I guess the two of them fight a lot or some bullshit, because he's always showing up with bruises and bandages that he _says_ are no big deal, but.." 

You continue to rant as though grumbling to yourself; you don't notice how wide Nepeta's eyes have grown. Or how when you say 'fight' you understand 'spar', 'practise', 'duel', whereas she only hears 'argue', 'assault', 'come to blows'. And you _definitely_ didn't know that Nepeta had returned here after six months of secretly wishing people would notice the bruises, of hoping they would read between the lines of her saying it was nothing, and convincing herself of the same, never able to work up the courage to say something outright until it got bad enough that she finally told Equius and he called CPS for her. 

You continue to grumble, totally unaware of what's going through her head right now... Or what she intends to do. 

At least, that's what you tell yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting November's chapter early due to NaNoWriMo craziness. I promise I will will go back and edit these chapters... just maybe not until December. @_@
> 
> Thanks for reading! :]


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping everyone is enjoying their holidays, whatever they might be.

You're on your way to school in the morning, when you're surprised by a familiar face in the hall. 

"Dave?" you ask, a little confused. It's rare for him to be here so early. 

You can see you've caught him at a bad moment. Duffle bag slung over one shoulder, he pounds a fist into the wall in a rare show of uncool, unironic rage. 

"Shit! They think my brother was the one who broke my arm." he growls, you suppose to you, since you're the only other one in the hallway at the time.  
This surprises you. "Was he not?"  
Dave turns to glare at you. "Of _course_ not! You think he would let it go that far?" You gape a little because _yeah, you did think he would do that._  
A cold wash of guilt threatens to overcome you, but you refuse to give into to it yet. 

You fold your arms. "He's the one who gave you that scar."  
"That happened _once_! And Bro was so upset about it that he wouldn't let me use a real sword again for years."  
"What about that time when you came here with a bandage on your arm?"  
"I slipped while I was training and twisted my wrist." he looks over at you "Why, what did you think happened?"

Oh crap.. you think. But, no. No! You refuse to feel guilty about this! His brother is still a shit guardian and you don't feel bad about mentioning it to Nepeta at all. Not even when Nepeta herself confesses to Dave and tells him that she's so, so sorry she misunderstood. Or when she gets a little teary eyed and explains that she had a bad foster home in the past and she thought he was going through something similar. And not even when you see Dave's armor start to crack and his tired anger seep out, just a little bit. 

Nope. You don't feel guilty about this at all. Not one bit. 

~~~

At night, you lie in bed across from him and try to think about something else. By some sick twist of fate, they decided to put Dave in your room. While each bedroom was designed to be shared by two, the house has been pretty empty lately. It's been a while since you had a roommate. You'd bet he's just itching to sneak over to Terezi's room as soon as the lights are out. But ever since Equius left, Nepeta's been sleeping over there more often and you know he doesn't like to impose on their girl-bonding.

You turn your head. Dave is focused on his phone, the white light of the screen reflecting off his shades. You try to think of something to say, but fail. Anything you could say would either be insensitive or insincere.. You still think his brother isn't cut out to raise kids. You still think calling CPS was the right thing to do. And you still haven't admitted to yourself that it was wrong to talk about things Dave told you in confidence in front of Nepeta, nor truly taken responsibility for her part in this. 

Before you can dwell on this much longer, Dave's phone drops to his chest, his face disappearing into darkness as your eyes try to adjust to the sudden dimming of light.  
"Shit!" He suddenly curses into the silence. "Of all the awful homes I've been to over the years, why is it that the only one they felt like investigating is the only one where I've actually wanted to stay?"  
The only part of you that answers is your stomach, by twisting another sick dagger of guilt into your side.  
Suddenly, Dave starts to laugh. First just a shallow stuttering exhale, but it grows into a chuckle and then a roar. You've always been secretly jealous of Dave's laugh, and as much as you claim to find it annoying, it always kind of made you want to join in. But today it's just painful to listen to. The only emotion it conveys is stress, brought to the breaking point and then pushed just a little bit farther. 

Finally, his laughs die down and he just sighs. "Now that's ironic." he mutters in barely more a whisper, as all the laughter goes out of his voice. 

"Are you mad?" you ask, unable to bear the guilt, but not brave enough to confess directly. "If I were you, I'd be mad." you say, and from this it should be pretty obvious that you're not talking about Nepeta anymore because there's no way you could ever be mad at her.  
Dave turns his head on his pillow to look at you. He raises one eyebrow over the brim of his glasses (yes, he actually wears those things to bed) and quirks a lopsided smile. "Why would I be mad at someone who was just trying to help?" he says, and from the tone of his voice you can tell he's not talking about Nepeta either. 

You sigh, rolling over in bed. Fucking cool kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any corrections, comments, or critiques are always appreciated. Thank you everyone for reading.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is short. Thank you all for sticking with it. D:


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Sorry there was no chapter for January, I'll try to make it up to you by posting two next month. We'll see how that goes..
> 
> If you have any comment, critiques, or notice any mistakes, please let me know. Thank you for reading. :]

It's morning, and Dave's social worker is here.

You sneak to the bottom of the stairs to eavesdrop. A few feet away, Terezi is doing the exact same thing.

"I'm telling you, he wasn't the one broke my arm!" Dave is shouting. "I actually, _literally_ fell down the stairs."  
"We know."  
"What?" Dave's voice jumps down in volume suddenly so that both you and Terezi have to lean in closer to hear.  
"The doctor confirmed that your injuries were consistent with a fall. And two of your neighbors corroborated your story."  
"Then why..?"  
"Physical abuse isn't the only issue here, Dave. CPS did a walkthrough of the premises and found twelve different bladed weapons left just lying around the house," (Dave mumbles something about 'murica) "No food in the kitchen," (you could've called that one) "And a dead crow nailed to the wall."  
"It was a raven, actually. And I was going to pickle it, soo.."

Dave trails off as you try to imagine the look on the social worker's face. If her tone of voice is anything to go on, she looks highly unimpressed.  
"Add to all of this the fact that your brother still hasn't been able to provide us with any legitimate verification of income."  
"He.. runs a lot of websites.." Dave mutters, but even you can tell that he's lying. You look at Terezi to confirm, tapping the back of her calf with your shoe. She just shrugs.  
A moment later, the kitchen door opens and the two of you scatter.

You can't hear what she tells him at the door before she leaves, but the next thing you hear is Dave's fist colliding with the wall, so you take it it isn't good news.

~~~

Days go by, and Dave's mood does not improve.

Despite Dave moving in with you, you start to see him less and less. He spends most of his time with Terezi, coming back to your shared bedroom to sleep only. And even then, only sometimes. Dave finally takes the girls up on that Exalted campaign they'd been trying to get him to play, you think, probably, as a way to convince Nepeta that he's not mad at her. Terezi starts coming to your movie nights.

On the surface, everything seems to be alright. But there are still times when you walk in on him and Terezi having a feelings jam on the floor of her room and her glare practically screams at you to go away.

And you do. Because if you ever had the right to consider Dave a friend, to have an opinion on how he feels, or maybe try to help, you’ve certainly lost it now. 

 

The next time you're alone with him in the same room, it's several days later. He's in the rec room in that spot underneath the couch. His head is tipped forward and his arms lie limp at his sides. He looks like he's thinking about getting up, but appears to have been doing so for some time now. It's well after midnight, and you'd assumed he was already asleep in Terezi's room.

You keep your distance, and perch on the couch across the room. Months ago, you would have considered that normal, but now it just feels weird. You guess you didn't realize how much the space between you had shrunk until you were suddenly snapped back to the way it was before.

Dave doesn't move when you enter the room. You think, perhaps, because he hasn't noticed you yet. And you're a little afraid that when he does he'll want to leave. Apparently, you're wrong on both accounts.

He tips his head back and sighs, so long you wonder how he even has that much air in his lungs. It's like he's exhaling all his anger in one breath. Today was the last chance to appeal the court's decision. You could tell from the second he came back that it didn't go well.  
"Well.. I don't really blame them." He finally says in that cool kid que sera sera voice you always used to find so annoying.

That surprises you

"You don't?"  
He scoffs. "Of course not. I might have been raised in an orphanage, but I'm not an idiot. I know parents aren't supposed to let you play with swords, or make frozen pizzas five days a week, or go out of town without telling you. He was never trying to be my father. And I never wanted him to be.."  
He runs a hand through his hair, then messes it up again, frowning. "Ugh! It's just so fucked up. I wish he could be my brother without having to be my guardian too. You know?" He looks at you like he's expecting you to say something. So you nod meekly. Satisfied, his head flops back against the couch cushion. "It's like in 'Lilo and Stitch': I liked him better as a brother than a dad." 

Either you're hearing things, or Dave really is feeling shitty, because you think he just referenced a Disney movie. As in, a totally unironic reference to a totally sweet-as-tooth-decay Disney movie. You always knew he wasn't such a fucking cool kid on the inside.

Smiling, you decide to go out on a limb here. "You know… I have Lilo and Stich on DVD. You wanna watch it?"

Dave throws an arm over his forehead, thinking for a second. It's clear that neither of you are getting any sleep tonight. "Yeah. Let's do that." He says.

Which is how you, Dave, Terezi and Nepeta all end up curled together in the space beneath the couch, Dave in Terezi's arms, Nepeta's head on your lap, crying your eyes out to a kids movie..


	11. Cool Kids- Conjuring Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Sorry for the slow update. I'm still working on the next chapter, this is just a random short I wrote back in September after watching The Conjuring for the first time! D;
> 
> I wanted to post it for Halloween, but obviously I got a little (/a lot) behind on the story and it wouldn't have made a lot of sense then. Anyway, I thought I could post it now as a kind of filler. I hope you enjoy it. Sorry again, and thanks everyone for your patience! :]

You should have known better than to let Terezi pick the movie. 

But ever since Dave moved back, the two have been practically joined at the hip. And after three or four nights of romantic comedies and artsy foreign films, it only seemed fair to let her choose for once. 

"Want to play hide and clap?" a whispered voice says right in your ear. An involuntary shiver runs down your spine at the closeness of it and you nearly jump out of your skin.  
You turn, fuming, as Terezi starts to cackle. Trailing behind her, Dave obediently claps his hands together twice. You glare at them both. 

This has been going on nearly half a week now. 

As the two laugh and saunter up the stairs, you prepare to settle down for another four hour rom-com marathon. Like your insomnia wasn't bad enough already, now you have to contend with the thought of seeing creepy doll faces and swinging corpses every time you close your eyes. You sigh and press the paly button on 'Sex and the City 2', trying to force that image out of your mind. This is going to be another long night. 

\--- 

Dave, meanwhile, was sound asleep in their shared bedroom. It was around midnight when the glare of headlights pierced their window and he stirred, gently, just on the edge of sleep, but prevented from drifting off again by a light snoring sound. 

He turned his head away from the light, rubbing his eyes and fumbling for his glasses. "Karkat, you're snoring.. Shut up." He muttered. Rolling over, he opened his (now shaded) eyes and looked at the bed beside him. It was empty. He sighed and flopped back against his pillow. Must have been dreaming.. he thought. But a second later, he was frozen. 

He could still hear the sounds of breathing. 

He held his breath, ears straining in the dark. He might be crazy.. but it sounded like it was directly below him. Putting an arm over his eyes, he tried to force himself back to sleep. He was probably just hallucinating out of tiredness. You're hearing things.. he told himself. It's nothing.. 

The next snorted breath had him sitting up in bed, instinctively pulling his feet in from the edge where someone could grab him. That was definitely something!  
His heart was hammering, but he stayed absolutely still. Slowly, his eyes inched down to the skirt of his bed. Couldn't be..  
Get a grip, Dave. He thought to himself. Cool kids aren't scared. Especially not of monsters under their beds! His hand gripped the sheets tightly as he continued trying to talk himself down. There's nothing there. Just take a look. What would your brother do?

Slowly, he rolled onto his stomach, lying sideways across his bed then carefully lowered himself down until his head was hanging -upside down- a few feet off the ground. He paused, still listening. He could still hear the sound, but the sheets were hanging down from his bed, obscuring his view of what was underneath. Slowly, he reached out to grab one. 

There's nothing there. There's nothing there. There's nothing…

He took a deep breath, and pulled back the blanket. 

What was underneath it was definitely not nothing. 

~~~

You're on your way back from getting a drink of water (after finally making it to bed) when Dave blows past you in the hall, muttering a string of profanities as he goes. When you get to your room, you can guess why. 

On the floor, rubbing his head and groaning sleepily, Gamzee is crawling out from under Dave's bed. His eyes are red and bloodshot, and half-smeared juggalo paint is still on his face. Yeah.. you can imagine how that went down. 

You put the glass of water down on your bedside table. You forgot to tell Dave that Gamzee sometimes wanders into your room at night when he's too stoned to remember where he's supposed to sleep. Finding his usually empty spare bed now suddenly occupied, he must have gone to sleep underneath it instead. You watch as Gamzee pulls himself to his feet, sways for a moment, then face plants into Dave's bed. 

After a brief moment debating whether you should tell him to leave, you shrug and wriggle under your covers. It's probably safe to assume that Dave is sleeping in Terezi's room tonight. 

You smile. Serves him right! you think, right before you drift off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't think of anything to say. Sorry. I'm really tired... 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading.

It's late, and you and Dave lie in opposite beds in silence. For the umpteenth time this month, you have no idea what to say to him.

Dave went to see his brother today. The courts were kind enough to grant him visitation rights every other Sunday. For the last few weeks, he's been trying to get Dave to take more of his stuff from the house (like his turntables and his PS3) and for the last few weeks, Dave's refused, saying his stuff is exactly where it should be and he wasn't going to move it.

But, finally, today he came back with a with a box of his things under his arm, muttering something about feeling bad for all these orphan kids not having a gaming system from the last decade. It was a sign he finally accepted that this isn't going to change any time soon, and you know he feels shitty about it.  
You know he feels like he lost somehow. You know he sees it as a kind of betrayal, turning his back on his brother like that. You know him, better than you ever wanted to.  
And the worst part is, you know that it's all your fault.

You lie in your bed feeling shitty. When you can't stand the guilt anymore, you try to strike up a conversation.

"So how _did_ you get that scar on your back?" you ask, because you can't think of anything better to say. Dave scowls.  
"It wasn't my brother if that's what you're getting at."  
"I know.. That's why I'm asking."

Dave chews his lip, staring at the insides of his shades. He looks like he doesn't really want to answer. You don't really expect him to.  
You're about to tell him this, when he opens his mouth.  
"It was a kid at my middle school, this total psycho. He used to sit behind me in chemistry. One day he got a knife past security somehow and just starting going nuts, stabbing people. He got me first. I don't remember much else, but I don't think anyone else was seriously hurt, fortunately." He grins faintly. "But man, Bro was so pissed, you should have seen him. I thought he was gonna kill the guy. Actually, that's-" He stops mid-sentence, shaking his head.

"What?"  
"Nothing."  
You roll over and rest your head on your bent elbow. "Tell me."  
"It's dumb, but... that's actually why I stopped going to school. When I thought about going back, I just froze. The whole scene would play over in my head; bleeding out, thinking I was going to die, and I'd start to panic. Bro had been homeschooling me while I was out, so, I just kind of never went back. And he never made me."

"You asked why Bro couldn't get a decent job," (you'd asked Terezi actually, but apparently these two share a hive mind) "The truth is, it was my fault." he says, and guilt is still thick in his voice. "He didn't want to leave me alone in the house, so he quit his job and looked for one that would let him work from home. It was a major pay cut for him, and we started having financial problems. We sold the car, the TV, his turntables, but it still wasn't enough. And a year later, I got taken away."  
He did everything to get me back after that. But I guess in the end it didn't matter."

Holy shit you feel like an asshole.

"Hey, Dave?"  
"Hmm?"  
"I'm really, _really_ sorry." you say.  
Dave just grins. "Yeah, I know. Sure took you a while to say it though, huh?"  
"If there's anything I can do to make it up to you.."  
"Well, there is one thing you could do.." You nod, waiting eagerly. No matter what the price, you've already decided to do anything it takes to win his forgiveness. No punishment could possibly be worse than this soul crushing guilt. "You could stop beating yourself up about it."

This is not what you were expecting.  
Your face must be saying so, because Dave continues emphatically. "I'm serious. I don't want us to be weird forever just because you feel guilty. I forgive you, so I need you to accept that."  
You turn over in your bed, considering this.

"I'd still feel better if there was something I could do in return."  
"You could give me a kiss?" Dave says, rolling over and wiggling his eyebrows at you.  
"Har har." you say with a roll of your eyes.  
"Then.. give me a pass. Whatever fucked up thing I do in the future that gets you pissed off at me, you promise you won't let it change our relationship."  
"Like a 'get out of jail free' card?"  
"Like a friendship reset button." he confirms.

"Okay, I can do that." And then, because your guilt is not quite yet abated. "So… Is that what we're doing now? A friendship reset?"  
"If I say yes will you stop looking like a kicked puppy every time you see me?"  
"I'll try."  
"Then, it's a deal." he says, and holds out his fist towards you. You stretch your arm across the distance between your beds. It's enough that it almost doesn't reach, but your knuckles meet in the space between them and it feels good.  
Actually, it feels really good.

"Cool." You mutter, really smiling for the first time in a while.  
He smiles too. "Cool." he says.

 ---

Sometime after midnight, the door creaked open and someone stepped inside. Dave didn't need to open his eyes to know it was Terezi. Her hesitant steps were unmistakable.  
She climbed under the covers, and Dave lifted his torso a little to let her arm snake around his chest, just below the ribcage. He felt her forehead leaning against the back of his shoulder, her nose pressed against his skin. She smelled like alcohol and regret. If regret smelled like a batch of Gamzee's 'special brownies'.  
"Do I need to beat someone up?" was all Dave asked. Her musical laughter was the only answer he needed, but she shook her head against his back just in case. "'Kay then." he muttered, taking her hands in his and nuzzling into them before falling back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short. And also not very interesting.. Sorry. v_v

You blink sleepily. It's early morning and you just woke up, but something bright has caught your eye from across the room. You blink again. A pair of blue-green irises, glossy and unseeing, look back at you. You almost do a literal double-take.  
Holy shit, that's Terezi! Terezi is in your room!! This is a thing that is happening. 

"Morning sunshine." she smirks. Dave's arm is wrapped around her neck, his nose pressed into her hair. You roll your eyes.  
"Jesus holy Christ, can't you two get a room?" you yell, and when she opens her mouth to argue, you add, "And when I say that, I mean a room that _I'm_ not currently occupying."  
Terezi just closes her mouth and frowns at you, pressing a finger to her lips. You're still pissed, but when you follow her finger to the sleeping Dave, you bite your lip and lower your voice to a whisper.  
"Sorry."  
Terezi shrugs. "It wasn't like that, anyway. We were just sleeping." she tells you. 

You open your mouth to argue, but think better of it. You really don't want to have to go through this whole dating-not-dating thing again. 

Luckily, Terezi changes the subject. Propping her head up with one elbow, she wiggles her eyebrows in your general direction. "So, Karkat." she says, voice seductive. "Tell me a secret."  
You're pretty sure she's just messing around, but her words find their way to the core of your guilt. You grimace. "No thanks."  
"Come on!"  
"No way."  
"Fine." she huffs, collapsing into her pillow. A moment later, she's back on the attack. She puts on her best fake sleepover voice. "So, are there any boys you like?"  
You roll your eyes. "No."  
"What about Dave?"  
You very nearly choke on your own saliva. "Wh-What about him?" you splutter.  
"Oh, nothing." she says, coyly. "I just thought you should know you two have a couple name. And a tumblr page. With fanart. _I know because I drew most of it!_ " she says, raising her voice so it chases you into the hall as you try to flee. Then she just laughs until you're out of ear shot. 

Her cackle falling to a chuckle, Terezi leans back into the pillow.  
"You know I'm awake, right?" Dave whispers into her shoulder.  
"Of course." she says, throwing the covers to the side as she slips out of Dave's now-limp grasp. "You owe me one!"

~~~

Later that afternoon, you're sitting on the couch playing Diddy Kong Racing in co-op mode when you pause the game suddenly, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Dave. There's something that's been bugging you for a while. Something you normally wouldn't be brave enough to say, but since your 'reset' it's been nagging at your mind. 

"I was wrong to say I didn't care about Terezi." you finally manage to get out, wondering if he even remembers the fight you had over that with all the shit you've done since then. But it doesn't matter, because you remember. You sigh. "The truth is, I still have feelings for her. And I've been taking it out on you because I was bitter and jealous and angry about the way things ended." You shake your head. Dave, amazingly, just listens to you quietly. "I don't know, sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I've done in the past that I forget I can still do things about it the present. So, if you two really aren't dating…"  
"We're really not." Dave says.  
"Well, then, I'm not giving up." you say, levelling a cool stare at his reflective shades and for once not hating the image that looks back at you. "I'm going to fight for her."

"Hmm.." Dave seems to roll this over in his mind, even as his tongue rolls over the Blow Pop he's been making out with since the start of your gaming session. "Alright then." he says, cool as your unheated bedroom gets in winter, but his grin is like firecrackers. "It's a fight."

For some reason, your heart jumps a bit. You like him better as your friend than your enemy, but you think you might like him better as a rival than a friend. You grin too. "Okay," you echo "It's a fight."

You unpause the game and keep playing. And it never once occurs to you that you might be fighting over a different person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last for this one. Thanks everyone for reading. If you have any corrections/comments/complaints, please let me know!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Woo! Thank you to everyone who's stuck with it, despite the inconsistent schedule... And chapter lengths.. (..and writing style).
> 
> As always, if you have any correction or critiques I'd love to hear them. I know I'm not the best editor or proof reader..

You walk into the rec room and immediately get the sense that you're interrupting something.

Equius is back, even if it’s only for the weekend while his foster parents are out of town. He and Nepeta are curled together on the couch, while Dave and Terezi snuggle up on the floor, sharing one controller between the two of them. _Oh, fuck. It's this again._ You think.

 

You're about to turn and go, but Terezi notices you first. "Oh! Hey, Karkat. You want to play?" she asks, before you can slink away.

Dave perks up at the mention of your name, glancing back and forth between you and the TV as he tries to keep from steering him and Terezi off the edge. You should say no and leave. It looks like they're having fun, there's no reason for you to ruin it with your… singleness.

Before you have the chance, Nepeta and Equius time a perfect smash that sends Dave and Terezi's character bouncing against the edge of the screen. While they respawn, Dave rests the remote in his lap and looks up at you.

"Yeah, come on! You can grab that clown asshole, Gamzar or whatever."

"Gamzee." Terezi corrects him, and Dave rolls his eyes.

 

As if summoned by his name, Gamzee appears behind you, rubbing sleep from his crusty drug-addled eyes. You raise an eyebrow dubiously. You and Gamzee are pretty close, you might even call him your best friend at times, but you'd still feel a little weird sitting in his lap.

Surprisingly, Dave intervenes.

"Hang on." He clicks through the end screen that just popped up after Nepeta DKed him off the edge again, then sits up. "We've been playing for a while, so it wouldn't be fair to put the two new people together." he says, detaching himself from the entwined cuddle puddle he and Terezi had become.

Oh. That's shockingly gracious of him.. You start to think, only to have him grab your wrist and pull you into his lap, while Terezi plops down on top of Gamzee. Oh so _that’s_ how this is going to go, is it?

You glare, but.. You kind of can’t help loosening up a little too.

Fine. Bring it. You'll woo her with your awesome Team Smash skills.

 

But as the game starts the countdown, you glance over at Dave for a second and smile.

His bony shoulder bumps against yours as he watches the screen eagerly, his pale, freckled face stretched into a childish and unguarded grin. And you think about how if someone told you you could trade that smile for one perfect relationship with Terezi, you're not sure that you would.

Before your eyes settle back on the screen, you look around at the faces of the people who had become your friends, many of whom you started out hating or who started out hating you, and it reminds you of a piece of wisdom you heard from a song:

_You don't always get what you want, but sometimes, if you try, you get what you need._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah.. That's it for Like the Cool Kids. Psych: They actually just end up friends. (Double-psych: Just kidding, there's actually a sequel.)
> 
> Big thanks again to everyone who made it this far. I would love to hear your suggestions for the next part. Specifically, I'm considering adding another POV character, and I'm trying to decided if I should switch to third person or not. So I'd love to hear you feedback on that. 
> 
> Yeah.... :/ 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it. I know it's probably not the ending most people wanted, but... yeah. Sorry. I'm mean, I know. (But now you have to read the second part, right? Right...? *crickets* .....sorry)


	15. Hey...

Don’t you hate it when people post a new chapter to something you’ve been reading and then it turns out it’s actually just an announcement?

 

Er..... Yeah. x_x

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let people I have already started working on the sequel, but in the meantime, I will be posting a quick three-part story about what the characters have been getting up to in the summer. Kind of a short, bridge story. Between this and the next part.

 

So we'll see if I do this right, but I'll try to post a link to that here: [Cool for the Summer](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7949683)

 

Also, guess who finally learned how to reply to comments? So.. yeah. That's a thing I will try to do more of in the future. 

 

That is all. 


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